Sentences Lesson Level 2

1. Words and Sentences: What is a Sentence?

For more information, see http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/files/samplelessons13.pdf

Vocab to learn for your Quiz:

1. Subject
2. Predicate
3. Fragment Sentence
4. Declarative Sentence
5. Interrogative Sentence
6. Imperative Sentence
7. Exclamatory Sentence
8. Simple  Sentence
9. Compound Sentence
10. Complex Sentence
11. Conjunctions
12. Run-on Sentences
13. Rambling Sentences
14. Agreement
15. Pronoun

When you write, one of the first things that you need to master is “Sentence Fluency.” This is item #1 on our 6 Traits Rubric.

Good sentence fluency means:

• Varied sentence lengths
• natural sounding sentences
• connecting words (aka subordinating conjunctions) like although, after, because, before, if, since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, and while
• Active voice, not passive voice (not “the pizza was eaten by him” but “he ate the pizza”

So what is a sentence?

A sentence is a complete idea.

“The parent” not a complete idea.“The parent called” complete idea.

Subject and Predicate Required

Sentences can be short or long, but all sentences need at least one subject (usually a noun) and at least one predicate (usually a verb).

This is a complete sentence:

“Jesus wept.”   “Jesus” is the subject. “Wept” is the predicate. Even though it is short, it is a complete idea.

Fragments

If your sentence is missing a subject or a verb, it is called a fragment.

These are fragments:

“The red car.” Where’s the predicate? This is a fragment.“The store and the gas station and then to grandma’s.” Where’s the predicate? This is a fragment.“Was the last one.” Where’s the subject? This is a fragment.“Turned over on the steep bank.” Where’s the subject? This is a fragment.

Declarative

A declarative sentence states an idea. It’s not a question or a command. It ends with a period.

“It is a beautiful day.”“Kaua’i was formed by volcanic activity.”

Interrogative

An interrogative sentence asks a question. It ends with a question mark.

“How’s the weather?”“What do you think about our school T-shirts?”

Imperative

An imperative sentence gives advice or instructions or expresses a request or command. It ends with a period or an exclamation point.

“Go with a fair wind.”“Before beginning your project, please read all of the instructions.”“Shut your mouth!”

Exclamatory

An exclamatory sentence is a sentence that expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation.

“This is totally insane!”

Simple Sentences

The most basic sentences are SIMPLE SENTENCES are have one subject (noun) and one predicate (verb).

The girl sang.People are dangerous.

Compound Sentences

Compound sentence: a sentence with more than one subject or predicate.

The girl and the boy sang and danced.

People and animals are dangerous and fascinating.

Complex Sentences:

These sentences show relationships between ideas and they make your writing nice and clear.

A complex sentence has a linking word that joins two ideas. One idea can stand on its own, and the other idea is dependent and can’t stand on its own.

You make the dependent clause with conjunctions-- or linking words.

See how linking words (bolded) make these sentences into incomplete thoughts:

“The ice cream melted.” Complete idea.

“Because the ice cream melted.” Incomplete idea!

“He was very rich.” Complete idea.

“Although he was very rich.”  Incomplete idea!

In order to fix these sentences, you have to add the rest of the thought.

“She cried all the way home because the ice cream melted.”

“Although he was very rich, he was never happy.”

Run-on Sentences and Rambling Sentences

Run-ons are simple sentences joined without punctuation or conjunctions.  Rambling sentences have too many ideas without the break of a new sentence.

“The ice cream melted it was hot it fell out of the cone onto my bare feet.” RUN-ON

“The ice cream melted because it was so hot. It fell out of the cone onto my bare feet.”  Fixed it.

“And then the ice cream melted because it was so hot because of the bright shining sun and the ice cream fell onto my bare feet and got between my toes and into my slippers and they got all sticky and that’s why mom says no more sugar for me today young lady.” RAMBLING.

“And then the ice cream melted because it was so hot because of the bright shining sun and the ice cream fell onto my bare feet and got between my toes and into my slippers and they got all sticky and that’s why mom says no more sugar for me today young lady.” Just take a breath, slow down, and tell me what happened a little at a time.

“The bright sun was shining hot. The ice cream melted and fell onto my bare feet! It got between my toes and into my slippers, and they got all sticky. That’s why mom said, “No more sugar for you today, young lady!” Ah, fixed it.

Agreement:

Here is more detailed information. http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-subject-verb-agreement.html

Sometimes in long sentences you can lose track of what you’re talking about. How many people? When did this happen? Making sure your sentences make sense in terms of tense and number is called AGREEMENT. Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.

It’s easy to see if your sentences agree in short sentences. The subject has to match the predicate in number and tense.

Singular= is, was

plural= are, were

past= was, -ed

present = ing

future= -will

My brother is tall. CORRECTMy brother are tall. WRONG.My sisters are short.CORRECTMy sisters is short. WRONG.Yesterday they called me. CORRECTYesterday they will call me. WRONG.Tomorrow I will call them back. CORRECT.Tomorrow I called them back. WRONG.

So yes, simple sentences are easier to correct. But in compound and complex sentences it can be harder to find the subject and the predicate to make sure they match.

The rule in all the English classes is that homework is due on time.(The rule is…)A nasty virus going around all the elementary classroom is a real problem.(A virus is…)The causes of this disease are not washing hands and sharing drinks.(The causes are…)The clothes I got at the store were really expensive.(The clothes were…)The members of the halau are so proud of their hard work. (The members are…)

The really tricky thing with subject verb agreement is that sometimes it’s hard to tell whether or not a subject is singular or plural. This is especially true with pronouns-- or words that stand in for nouns.

Anyone who saw the invitations is welcome to come. (Anyone is...) CORRECT.

Anyone who saw the invitations are welcome to come. (Anyone are…) WRONG.

Many of the books in the library are damaged. (Many are…) CORRECT.

Phew! For the quiz, be prepared to define and explain the words on the vocab list from the top.

Many of the books in the library is damaged. (Many is…) WRONG.